Keep INVESTING Simple and Safe (KISS)
****Investment Philosophy, Strategy and various Valuation Methods****
The same forces that bring risk into investing in the stock market also make possible the large gains many investors enjoy. It’s true that the fluctuations in the market make for losses as well as gains but if you have a proven strategy and stick with it over the long term you will be a winner!****Warren Buffett: Rule No. 1 - Never lose money. Rule No. 2 - Never forget Rule No. 1.

Sunday, 17 April 2016

Summary of Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Philip A. Fisher

Philip A. Fisher’s Stocks Selection Criteria - What to buy?

In his book, Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, Philip A. Fisher listed down his 15 points on the criteria of selecting good stocks. These 15 points cover 4 areas on sales & growth, financial, management and leadership.

Area 1: Sales & growth
Products and services that have market potential to increase and give sizable sales for few years (Point 1)
Management determination in develop new products and services for growth and sales potential (Point 2)
Effectiveness of research & development in relation to size (Point 3)
An above average sales organization (Point 4)

Area 4: Leadership: visions and characters
Peculiarity of the company in winning the competition (Point 11)
Management perspectives in regard to profits (short-range or long range) (Point 12)
Management attitude in conveying troubles and disappointments. “Clam up”? (Point 14)
Unquestionable integrity (Point 15)

Philip A. Fisher’s Stocks Strategies - When to buy? When to sell or not to sell?
In Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, Philip Fisher provided guidelines on timing of buying and selling stocks. Once a company fits into the 15 points criteria of a good and growth stock, when should we start buying the stocks? When should we sell it?

When to buy a good stock?

The best time to buy a company’s shares is right before the improvement of its earning power and before its shares price reflects the anticipated earnings improvement.
When the company’s commercial plant for a new processes is about to begin production. Initially, growth drains profit and other resources of the business. The point in the development of a new process that worth considering as buying time is that at which the first full-scale commercial plant is about to begin production. (Extra cost will incur, benefit of the new production has not crept into EPS. But eventually profit will come.) This criteria can only apply to the companies that fit the 15 points
When the company Introduces new products
When the company faces problems of starting complex plants. Such troubles are temporary rather than permanent
Alternatively, we can just buy into outstanding companies, though our patient will be tested.

Another important strategy is that we should buy the shares in staggered way. Spread the timing of buying to avoid losses caused by major economic storm.

When to sell?

There are only 3 reasons to sell
When a mistake has been made in the original purchase
The company has no longer qualified in regard to the fifteen points, either through deterioration or exhaustion of growth prospectsSwitch to a more attractive investment as our investment resources (money) are limited

When not to sell?
General stock market movement, as the good companies that fit the 15 points may defy business cycle
Overpriced, as you cannot know whether it is really overpriced. The companies that fit the 15 points have good growth prospects
The price of the stock has a huge advance

Ultimately, "If the job has been correctly done when a common stock is purchased, the time to sell it is – almost never." – Philip A Fisher

Philip A. Fisher’s "Ten Don'ts" For Investors
In his book, Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, Philip Fisher also stated "Ten Don'ts" for investors.

Don’t buy into promotional companies
Don’t ignore a good stock just because it is traded “over the counter”
Don’t buy a stock just because you like the “tone” of its annual report
Don’t assume that the high price at which a stock may be selling in relation to earnings (PER) is necessarily an indication that further growth in those earnings has largely been already discounted in the price.
Don’t quibble over eights and quarters, i.e. few sens.
Don’t overstress diversification
Don’t be afraid of buying on a war scare
Don’t be influenced by what doesn’t matter, that statistic of former years’ earnings and particularly of per-share price ranges of these former years quite frequently “have nothing to do with the case”.
Don’t fail to consider time as well as price in buying a true growth stock. Based on time, rather than price, eg. a month before the commission of new plant, etc.
Don’t follow the crowd, ie. collective perception on the broad picture or particular industry, trend, outlook, favor of the months, etc. These investment fads and misinterpretation of facts may run for several months or several years. Given the same facts, change of such perceptions would lead to different conclusion.

Philip A. Fisher’s View on Dividend
According to Philip Fisher, in his book Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, a company that fits the 15 points should retain its profits for better growth instead of distributing the profits to investors. There are more opportunities available to the management to get high yield investments than that available to the investors.

Argument on tax effects of dividend is not entirely relevant to Malaysian investors due to different tax system.

“Actually dividend considerations should be given the least, not the most, weight by those desiring to select outstanding stock.” – Philip A Fisher

“Worthy of repetition here is that over a span of five to ten years, the best dividend results will come not from the high-yield stocks but from those with the relatively low yield.” – Philip A Fisher

In a way I cannot entirely agree with Philip Fisher in his view on dividend. I always like to invest in company with opportunities of growth, financially strong with net cash and that distributes dividend consistently. By receiving dividends periodically, I can be patient even when the market falls for a long period of time.

Without dividend, I am not sure if I can maintain the discipline to hold on to good stocks in an economy downturn. It is such "discipline" (plus knowledge in the company) that ultimately decides our investment outcome of gain or loss.

Step 1
Listen to investment men with great ability as a source of original leads on what to investigate. Typical public printed brokerage bulletin available to everyone is not a fertile source. Few hours conversation, with and outstanding investment man, occasionally with a business executives or scientist, would lead to a decision that a particular company might be exciting.

Step 2
He didn’t approach anyone in the management in this stage. He didn’t spend hours and hours going over old annual reports and making minutes studies of minor year-by-year balance sheet changes. He didn’t ask every stockbroker he knew what he thinks of the stock.

He would glance over
a. The balance sheets to determine general nature of the capitalization and financial positions.
b. Breakdown of total sales by product line
c. Competitions
d. Shareholdings
e. All earnings statement figures throwing light on depreciation, profit margins, extent of research activity and abnormal or non-recurring costs in prior years’ operations

Step 3
Using “scuttlebutt” method, he would try to see every key customer, supplier, competitor, ex-employee or scientist in a related field that he knew or whom he could approach through mutual friends.

If he did not know enough of people that could lead to such background information, he would stop and do something else.

He would go through commercial bankers to those businessmen who have the information.

Step 4
He would gather at least 50% of all the knowledge he would need to make the investment before approaching the management.

He would choose to see the man who make the decisions, not the financial public relations officer. It is wise and important to go to considerable trouble to be introduced to a management by the right people, ie. key customers, major shareholders, investment banking connections, etc.

He bought one out of two or two-and- a-half companies he visited. He had done his scuttlebutt work well enough to be very certain even before he visited the company. Meeting management was merely to confirm hopes or to ease fears by answers that make sense.

“One of the ablest investment men I have ever known told me many years ago that in the stock market a good nervous system is even more important than a good head. Perhaps Shakespeare unintentionally summarized the process of successful common stock investment: There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.” – Philip A Fisher

Value of an Asset

From The Essays of Warren Buffett: “In Theory of Investment Value, written over 50 years ago, John Burr Williams set forth the equation for value, which we condense here: The value of any stock, bond or business today is determined by the cash inflows and outflows—discounted at an appropriate interest rate—that can be expected to occur during the lifetime of the asset.”

Mr. Market is there to be taken advantage of. Do not be the sucker instead. BFS;STS.

Always buy a lot when the price is low.

Never buy when the stock is overpriced.

It is alright to buy when the selected stock is at a fair price.

Phasing in or dollar cost averaging is safe for such stocks during a downtrend, unless the price is still obviously too high.

Do not time the market for such or any stocks.

By keeping to the above strategy, the returns will be delivered through the growth of the company's business.

So, when do you sell the stock? Almost never, as long as the fundamentals remain sound and the future prospects intact.

The downside risk is protected through only buying when the price is low or fairly priced.

Tactical dynamic asset allocation or rebalancing based on valuation can be employed but this sounds easier than is practical, except in extreme market situations.

Sell urgently when the company business fundamental has deteriorated irreversibly.

You may also wish to sell should the growth of the company has obviously slowed and you can reinvest into another company with greater growth potential of similar quality. However, unlike point 16, you can do so leisurely.

In conclusion, a critical key to successful investing is in your stock picking ability.

My Philosophy and Strategy

DOCUMENTRY- WARREN BUFFETT THE WORLDS GREATEST MONEY MAKER

Peter Lynch

11 Lessons From Peter Lynch

Peter Lynch taught me:

1. Behind every stock is a company. Find out what it’s doing.2. Never invest in any idea you can’t illustrate with a crayon.3. Over the short term, there may be no correlation between the success of a company’s operations and the success of its stock. Over the long term, there’s a 100% correlation.4. Buying stocks without studying the companies is the same as playing poker – and never looking at your cards.5. Time is on your side when you own shares of superior companies.6. Owning stock is like having children. Don’t get involved with more than you can handle.7. When the insiders are buying, it’s a good sign.8. Unless you’re a short seller, it never pays to be pessimistic.9. A stock market decline is as predictable as a January blizzard in Colorado. If you’re prepared, it can’t hurt you.10. Everyone has the brainpower to make money in stocks. Not everyone has the stomach.11. Nobody can predict interest rates, the future direction of the economy, or the stock market. Dismiss all such forecasts and concentrate on what’s actually happening to the companies in which you’ve invested.

Lynch’s advice had a profound effect on my stock market approach. He taught me that investment success isn’t the result of developing the right macro-economic view or deciding when to jump in or out of the market. Success is about researching companies to identify those that are likely to report positive surprises.

Think of your physical, mental and social well-being. Money may not buy happiness.

What is Risk?

The major RISK facing you is the possibility of not reaching your long-term investment goal through the growth of your funds in real terms. And the greatest enemy of reaching those goals is INFLATION. Nothing is safe from inflation. Short-term price volatility is NOT risk for investors who have time horizons 5, 10, 15 or 30 years away. Volatility is the friend of the long term investor. The most important friends of your investment goal are COMPOUNDING and TIME.

Life Cycle of A Successful Company

Capital Expenditure

A great company with a Durable Competitive Advantage will have a ratio of Capital Expenditures to Net Income of less than 25%. Less is better.

Capital Expenditures are expenses on:- fixed assets such as equipment, property, or industrial buildings- fixing problems with an asset- preparing an asset to be used in business- restoring property- starting new businesses

A good company will have a ratio of Capital Expenditures to Net Income of less than 50%.

A great company with a Durable Competitive Advantage will have a ratio of less than 25%.

The best stock investment strategy

Keep it simple. Keep it safe (make money with less risk taking). You don't need to pick the best stock or even the best stock funds to do well, if you have an investment strategy that keeps you out of trouble.

Benjamin Graham's 113 Wise Words

The true investor scarcely ever is forced to sell his shares, and at all times he is free to disregard the current price quotation. He need pay attention to it and act upon it only to the extent that it suits his book, and no more. Thus the investor who permits himself to be stampeded or unduly worried by unjustified market declines in his holdings is perversely transforming his basic advantage into a basic disadvantage. That man would be better off if his stocks had no market quotation at all, for he would then be spared the mental anguish caused him by other persons' mistakes of judgement."

Philip Fisher's Wise Words

"The refusal to sell at a loss, while completely natural and normal, is probably one of the most dangerous in which we can indulge ourselves in the entire investment process.

More money has probably been lost by investors holding a stock they really did not want until they could 'at least come out even' than from any other single reason. If to these actual losses are added the profits that might have been made through the proper reinvestment of these funds if such reinvestment had been made when the mistake was first realized, the cost of self-indulgence becomes truly tremendous."

(Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits)

Visualization Video for a New Life

All equity security investments present a risk of loss of capital

Investment performance is not guaranteed and future returns may differ from past returns. As investment conditions change over time, past returns should not be used to predict future returns. The results of your investing will be affected by a number of factors, including the performance of the investment markets in which you invest.

The Ultimate Hold-versus-Sell Test

Here is the overriding primary test, followed by observations on why it is so critically important:

Knowing all that you now know and expect about the company and its stock (not what you originally believed or hoped at time of purchase), and assuming that you had available capital, and assuming that it would not cause a portfolio imbalance to do so, would you buy this stock today, at today's price?

No equivocation. Yes or no?

Answers such as maybe or probably are not acceptable since they are ways of dodging the issue. No investor probably buys a stock; they either place an order or do not.

Here is the implication of your answer to that critical test: if you did not answer with a clear affirmative, you should sell; only if you said a strong yes, are you justified to hold.

Some thoughts on Analysing Stocks (KISS)

Ideally a stock you plan to purchase should have all of the following charateristics:

• A rising trend of earnings dividends and book value per share.• A balance sheet with less debt than other companies in its particular industry.• A P/E ratio no higher than average.• A dividend yield that suits your particular needs.• A below-average dividend pay-out ratio.• A history of earnings and dividends not pockmarked by erratic ups and downs.• Companies whose ROE is 15 or better.• A ratio of price to cash flow (P/CF) that is not too high when compared to other stocks in the same industry.

Benjamin Graham

"To achieve satisfactory investment results is easier than most people realise; to achieve superior results is harder than it looks."

Sell the losers, let the winners run.

Losers refer NOT to those stocks with the depressed prices but to those whose revenues and earnings aren't capable of growing adequately. Weed out these losers and reinvest the cash into other stocks with better revenues and earnings potential for higher returns.

Margin of Safety Concept: Stocks should be bought like groceries, not like perfume

The high CAGR in the early years of the investing period, due to buying at a discount, tended to decline and approach that of the intrinsic EPS GR of the companies over a longer investment time-frame.

Chapter 20 - “Margin of Safety” as the Central Concept of Investment

A single quote by Graham on page 516 struck me:

Observation over many years has taught us that the chief losses to investors come from the purchase of low-quality securities at times of favorable business conditions.

Basically, Graham is saying that most stock investors lose money because they invest in companies that seem good at a particular point in time, but are lacking the fundamentals of a long-lasting stable company.

This seems obvious on the surface, but it’s actually a great argument for thinking more carefully about your individual stock investments.If most of your losses come from buying companies that seem healthy but really aren’t, isn’t that a profound argument for carefully studying any company you might invest in?

Market Fluctuations of Investor's Portfolio

Note carefully what Graham is saying here. It is not just possible, but probable, that most of the stocks you own will gain at least 50% from their lowest price and lose at least 33%("equivalent one-third") from their highest price -regardless of which stocks you own or whether the market as a whole goes up or down.If you can't live with that - or you think your portfolio is somehow magically exempt from it - then you are not yet entitled to call yourself an investor.